The present invention relates to a clip for attaching a cover member to a concave section formed in a vehicle. The present invention also relates to an attaching structure of the clip for attaching the cover member, in which both end sections of the cover member elastically abut against both side surfaces forming the concave section.
As a conventional clip for attaching a cover member, there has been known a clip, in which a positioning piece having a distal end abutting against a side surface forming a concave section of a vehicle, for example, a main roof panel or a side roof panel, is provided on one side of a base plate section to be bonded and fixed at a bottom of the concave section.
In this clip for attaching the cover member, the distal end of the positioning section abuts against a predetermined side surface forming the concave section, so that the clip can be bonded and fixed at a predetermined position away from the side surface, that is, a predetermined position in a width direction of the concave section.
In the conventional clip for attaching the cover member, since the positioning piece is provided at one side of the base plate section, the clip can be bonded and fixed after being positioned at a predetermined position away from one side surface forming the concave section. However, the clip can not be bonded and fixed at a center in the width direction of the concave section (a center of the width direction in a top surface of the concave section, or a center of the width direction in an opening rim of the concave section). Namely, the width of the concave section is not uniform due to a variance in overlapping upon connecting an end rim section of the main roof panel with an end rim section of the side roof panel even if it is tried to maintain a constant width of the concave section. Therefore, although the clip for attaching the cover member is bonded and fixed at a bottom of the concave section relative to the one side surface forming the concave section, the clip for attaching the cover member can not be positioned exactly at the center of the concave section.
If the clip for attaching the cover member can not be bonded and fixed to the center of the concave section, in case both end sections of the cover member are elastically contacted with the main roof panel and the side roof panel, the cover member may not be securely engaged with and attached to the clip for attaching the cover member, or both end sections of the cover member may not contact the main roof panel and the side roof panel.
The present invention has been made in order to solve the aforementioned problems, and an object of the invention is to provide a clip for attaching a cover member, which can be easily bonded and fixed at the center of the width direction of the concave section.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an attaching structure of the clip for attaching the cover member, in which both end sections of the cover member can securely and elastically contact both side surfaces forming the concave section.
Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the invention.
To achieve the above objects, the present invention provides a clip for attaching a cover member comprising a base plate section to be bonded to and fixed at a bottom of a concave section, a holding section disposed at the base plate section and holding the cover member therein, and elastic pieces provided at both sides of the base plate section and elastically abutting against respective side surfaces of the concave section, which form the concave section and are opposed to each other.
Preferably, a plurality of elastic pieces may be provided respectively at both sides of the base plate section, and guide surfaces guided by the side surfaces of the concave section may be provided in the elastic pieces. Also, a pair of elastic pieces may be provided at both sides of the base plate section, and an elastic force of the elastic piece at one side of the base plate section may be different from that of the elastic piece at the other side thereof.
The present invention also provides an attaching structure of a clip for attaching a cover member to a concave section of a vehicle. The attaching structure of the invention comprises a base plate section to bond and fix a clip for attaching the cover member to a bottom of a concave section, a holding section disposed at the base plate section and holding the cover member therein, and at least two elastic pieces provided at both sides of the base plate section and elastically abutting against the respective side surfaces of the concave section, which are opposed to each other. In this structure, the clip for attaching the cover member is inserted into the concave section while the elastic pieces are elastically made in contact with both the side surfaces of the concave section, so that the base plate section is bonded to and fixed at the bottom of the concave section.